


Mr. Make-Belive

by Caffinated_Story



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 22:14:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6677446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caffinated_Story/pseuds/Caffinated_Story
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His mother had died with a whisper on her lips that he should never show nor tell others his secrets.<br/>Magic shouldn't be shown to the common people. Magic brought Witches despair in these times.</p><p>Yet Eirik makes one little mistake in going back on his promise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mr. Make-Belive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jerri_tangerine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jerri_tangerine/gifts).



His mother had died with a whisper on her lips that he should never show nor tell others his secrets.

The words had hung over him like grey clouds for the rest of his life.  
Floating over him as a constant reminder to never open up and never let people see the true light that lay behind the fog of lies he called his life.

He took a job at a bank. Counting money for others.  
It was the same every day.  
Nothing exciting about it, but that's what Eirik wanted.

He didn't want people to see what he could really do.

He wanted to blend in with the rest, make everyone assume he was just like them.

Fear alone wasn't reason enough – he was stronger than anyone could imagine.  
But it was this or death.  
And thus Eirik had chosen the grey life of conformity to the highest degree he could muster.

He could dye the sky red and make it rain heather if he wanted it.  
He could turn the streets into rivers and cars into trees.  
He could blow the rain away and replace it with sunshine if he only put his mind to it.

But magic wasn't real.

People didn't seem to want to believe.

So Eirik didn't want to give them the opportunity to have any beliefs in it either.

Occasionally he'd wander the small parks at night and let the cold air fill his lungs till he felt like he could breathe out stars and mist.  
He'd sit by the tall trees and hear them tell stories of when they were only small seeds.

When the full moon lit up the parks Eirik could almost pretend he was home by the lakes and mountains miles away from the buildings that always seemed to be looming over the people walking along the paved streets. 

The parks were quiet little pockets of air that let him breathe out in peace.

Few people dared enter them in the dead of night – Eirik had ensured no rumours of ghosts or monsters ever fully died out in the parks.  
He liked the little moments of time alone with the plants.

However; one full moon he stumbled upon a man sleeping on one of the benches under a large oak tree – the smell of alcohol was heavy on his breath and Eirik didn't get a single coherent sentence out of him save for something that was perhaps a pained moan.

Eirik frowned when he realised the man was black and blue all over.  
Drunk or not he didn't think it was nice to beat up someone so badly – but that must have been what had happened.  
You didn't get a busted nose like that from sleeping on a bench.

The wind told him to leave him behind – but the trees argued it wouldn’t be right to let him freeze alone, so Eirik gathered his strength and carried the man home.

A quick flick of his wrist and the stove turned on as he entered the door.  
Warmth quickly spreading into the small apartment.  
It took less than a minute to make the man comfortable on the sofa, and Eirik was glad the man was too drunk and tired to notice he was floating through the room for a few seconds.

Getting the drunkard to drink the potion was a whole other story all together, and Eirik almost started lacing his words with magic but caught himself in time.  
Not yet, he told himself and pressed the glass to the man's lips until he willingly drank the blue liquid.

“Sleep,” Eirik said and placed his hand gently on the man's chest, pushing his own warmth into the man's chest till the shivers subsided and the blue tint faded from the man's lips and fingers.

Once certain the man was swimming in pleasant dreams, Eirik got to work on the numerous bruises.  
Cuts and bruises were slowly erased one by one until the poor man almost looked presentable.

Eirik also took the time to wash the man's outer clothes and socks – who had clearly seen better days.

He went to bed feeling giddy and energetic.  
It had been so long since he'd used his magic – his body was aching for him to do more and show more.  
Eirik smiled to himself and painted the starry sky on his bedroom ceiling, closing his eyes as the stars and clouds moved in tune with the world outside.

This was bliss.

He awoke to a soft knock on his door and a sleepy and gruff voice asking if anyone was in there.

“Yes,” Eirik replied and sat up, smoothing his hair down and shaking some leaves and flowers out of it. Of all days to start sprouting plants, he thought to himself as he took a deep breath and made the rest of the flowers disappear. Clearly he'd had a really good night of sleep.

“Feeling better?” he asked the still slightly scruffy and tired looking man as he opened his bedroom door.

“Yes, a lot. Thank you,” the man replied and smiled sheepishly. “I have to repay you for your help.”

“No,” Eirik scoffed. “No need for that,” he added and waved his hand.  
He didn't need repayments. He just needed to know the man was alive and that he'd leave him alone as soon as possible.

“Why not? You saved my life,” the man argued.

“Nonsense. I just gave you a sofa to sober up on,” Eirik lied.

“Hey, that's not true. It's not every day I'm saved by a wizard,” the man chuckled and smiled brightly.

“A what?” Eirik froze, feeling his skin prickle with electricity. He should have included a memory wiping spell into the potion.

Too late for that now. 

“A wizard! I don't know how you did it, but I was flying last night. It was amazing,” the man smiled from ear to ear in childish glee.

“You were drunk. I simply carried you here,” Eirik lied and shuffled towards the kitchen, pushing jars of herbs away and pulling out the espresso pot. 

“Nah. I was definitively flying. I felt weightless.”

“A few too many shots of vodka will do that to you,” Eirik grumbled. “Magic isn't real.”

The words hurt to say, his body and soul wanting to protest his own words as loudly as possible.

“No,” the man shook his head. “Magic is real. I know it is.”

“Hardly,” Eirik sneered. “It's all make-believe and lies.”

“That must make you Mr. Make-believe then,” the man chuckled. “Nice to meet you, I'm Preben.”

“Eirik,” he replied and shook Preben's hand firmly before quickly returning to the tast of making coffee.

“Eirik Make-believe?” Preben asked and grinned.

“Something like that,” Eirik shrugged. If he was lucky Preben was still drunk and would soon think it was all a dream.

“Gotta say Mr. Magic-isn't-real... That is some impressive make-believe you've got going on in your ceiling.”

“I.. what?” Eirik stopped trying to measure up coffee and lifted his gaze to the ceiling, mouth forming into a silent 'Oh no' as he saw the clouds drifting above them. In his glee last night he hadn’t thought to contain the magic to his own bedroom, and now his entire apartment's ceiling was showing the weather currently above their heads.

Preben grinned and basked in the sunlight that shone through the invisible ceiling – loving every moment.

“It's just lights and video,” Eirik lied.

“Never seen anything like it,” Preben remarked. “Very realistic.”

“Cost a fortune,” Eirik replied and averted his gaze.

“Just smoke and mirrors then?” Preben asked with a cocky grin.

“Yes.”

“Hmmm,” Preben hummed and stood on his toes – reaching up and touching a passing cloud. “Feels real,” he added. “Very real.”

Eirik was sure every hair on his body was standing on edge.  
His mind couldn't find a way to talk himself out of this now.  
He'd ruined it.

Soon everyone would know.

He'd have to run.

And run.

And run.

“Please don't tell anyone,” he whispered softly, hands shaking as he tried to continue making coffee. “Please... don't...” he paused and swallowed nervously.

“But this is amazing! People have to know!” Preben exclaimed and threw his hands in the air, marveling at the living ceiling above his head.

“No!” Eirik shouted, gripping the counter top firmly. “You will not breathe a word of this to anyone.”

“But,” Preben said, taking a step closer. “This is amazing! Think of how much joy such a ceiling would give people!”

“No,” Eirik said sternly and the room visibly darkened.

Preben stopped and stared at the clouds becoming darker and darker before inching further away from Eirik, fascinated and terrified of the spectacle above his head.

“It's raining...” he whispered in awe and held his hands out to catch the little droplets falling down over the kitchen.

“You can't tell anyone,” Eirik said once more, firmly and sternly.

“Okay,” Preben replied softly, wringing his hands nervously together. “I.. just figured it would be nice to let people know magic is real... Dreams come true and all that.”

“Hardly,” Eirik sneered, the rain fading into a faint drizzle. “It's nothing to shout about.”

“Not to you maybe,” Preben shrugged. “But man. I know so many people who'd give their life to see the ceiling move like the sky outside.”

“People have already given their life for it to do that,” Eirik grumbled and rubbed the little rune tattoo on his wrist.

“Is it fueled by human sacrifice?” Preben asked, eyes wide in fear.

“No humans where harmed in the display you see above you,” Eirik stated matter-of-factly. “A good few witches however...” he sighed deeply.

“Ohh...” Preben shifted his weight from one foot to the other with unease. “Want me to... leave?” he asked when the silence became too thick to ignore.

“Do what you like.” Eirik grumbled.

“So I can stay?”

Eirik gave a light shrug in reply.

“Oh man, thank you so much. This is the warmest place I've slept in a good few weeks,” Preben laughed. 

“Bathroom's down the hall on the left,” Eirik grimaced, pretending he hadn't seen Preben's smile falter.

“Sweet,” Preben grinned and almost skipped out the room.

Eirik let out a long sigh as he heard the bathroom door click shut – letting his magic flow into the whole room.  
He needed to get all his anger and fear out and cleaning was as good of an idea as levelling a city was.

Preben on the other hand got as far as getting naked and into the shower before he stopped and stared at the numerous plants Eirik had on a thick window ledge in the shower.

“Weird,” he mumbled to himself and poked a Venus fly-trap lightly with his finger. “Please don't bite me,” he added and grinned at the plants. “Or poke me,” he said sternly to a prickly cactus.

Plants in the shower were one thing. Preben got over that.  
The water not going warmer than lukewarm was another shock he got past after a few seconds of cursing and swearing.

But the strange smelling soap that made his arms and chest a purple blue hue was enough to send him into a panic.

“What is this!” Preben shouted so loud Eirik dropped a glass on the floor.

“What?” Eirik blinked, trying to ignore that there was now a naked man in his kitchen.

“I'm blue!”

“No. You're covered in galaxies,” Eirik explained, unimpressed that this was why Preben was yelling.

“What?”

“Galaxies. Constellations...” Eirik waved his hand.

“I know what they are,” Preben frowned and looked down at his own chest, taking a better look at the swirl of colours covering his upper body.  
“Oh,” he whispered as he finally saw what Eirik meant.  
He was covered in galaxies. Stars dotted his body where freckles had once been, slowly moving in tune to the swirls of deep blue, purple and black.

It was very pretty as long as he didn't have to think about it being his own skin.

“Can you make it go away?” Preben whispered.

“Just wash it away with the contents in the green bottle,” Eirik replied, waving his hand over the mess on the floor and repairing the broken glass in front of Preben's eyes.

“I see,” Preben lied, returning quickly to the shower.  
However, as the images of space disappeared from his chest Preben decided he rather liked the little stars on his arm.  
With a little work and reapplying of the strange 'soap' in the places more convenient for him; Preben stepped out of the shower feeling not only clean and refreshed – but with moving galaxies as a sleeve tattoo.

“Is it permanent?” he asked Eirik as he took a seat by the small kitchen table.

“The stars?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe. I tend to wash it all off after a week.”

“So I can keep it?” Preben asked, poking the star and grinning as the galaxy appeared to move across his skin.

“If you want...”

“Thanks, this is really cool! Once the initial scare disappears mind you. You really need to label your bottles.”

“I live alone... I don't need labels.” Eirik reminded him coolly. 

 

“I can label them for you if you want. I've got a pretty decent hand writing if I put my mind to it.”

“If you want I'm not going to stop you.”

“Awesome! Does this mean I'm a wizard’s apprentice?” Preben grinned from ear to ear.

“I'm not a wizard,” Eirik frowned.

“Then what are you?”

“A witch,” Eirik said, a slight proud smile at the deceleration. 

“Ah, so I can be a Witch’s apprentice?”

“Uh.. if you want to,” Eirik paused for a moment before giving up making breakfast the usual way – letting his magic do it instead. “However; the rule still applies. You can not tell anyone about what you see in my home.”

“I won't tell a soul. Or person.” Preben smiled. “Well, I might tell a dog, but that's fair isn’t it?”

“That's fair,” Eirik chuckled and offered Preben a cup of coffee and a plate of toast with jam. “Dogs don't spread lies.”

“Me and dogs don't judge either,” Preben reassured him.

“Good, then you can have the sofa for a few nights more.”

“Very kind of you, I promise not to be a bother.”

“Mhm...” Eirik nodded. “We'll see,” he added and absent-mindedly took a bite of his own breakfast.

“Cross my heart and hope to die if I don't make it up to you somehow,” Preben laughed. 

“Your word is enough,” Eirik shook his head. “If I wanted your life I'd have left you on the bench.”

“But you didn't. So I owe you one.”

“If you say so...” Eirik shrugged.

“So name anything you need and I'll do it!”

“You can start with eating your breakfast,” Eirik pointed to the plate. “That's all for now.”

“Heh, you're weird. Really nice but weird.” Preben said, mouthful of toast.

“Suppose I am...” Eirik hummed.  
He'd heard of humans adopting stray cats or dogs, but not humans.

Breathe, he told himself.  
If it doesn't work you'll wipe his memory and move on.  
No harm in letting him stay till he finds his own two feet to stand on.

He didn't have the heart to kick Preben out just yet.  
For once it was nice to talk to something that talked back out loud – even if he was pretty sure his plants were going to be jealous of their new flatmate.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always been a sucker for magic. and it's so fun writing Norway using magic <3


End file.
